subverting the culture

a targum of colossians 1:15-20 by author brian walsh and sylvia c. keesmaat.

In an image-saturated world
a world of omnipresent corporate logos permeating your consciousness
a world of dehydrated and captive imaginations in which we are too numbed,
satiated and co-opted to be able to dream of life otherwise
A world in which the empire of global economic affluence has achieved the monopoly of our imaginations
In this world, Christ is the image of the invisible God
In this world, driven by images with a vengeance,
Christ is the image par excellence
the image above all other images
the image that is not a facade
the image that is not trying to sell you anything
the image that refuses to co-opt you
Christ is the image of God
A flesh and blood, here and now, in time and history with joys and sorrows
image of who we are called to be, image-bearers of this God
He is the source of a liberated imagination, a sub-version of the empire,
Because it all starts with Him and it all ends with Him
Everything, all things, whatever you can imagine, visible and invisible
mountains and atoms, outer space, urban space, and cyberspace
Whether it be the Pentagon, Disneyland, Microsoft or Apple
Whether it be the institutionalized power structures of the state,
the church, the university or the market
All things have been created in Him and through Him and for Him
He is their source, their purpose, and their goal
Even in their rebellion, even in their idolatry, He is the sovereign One
as a body of believers around a common meal,
in alternative economic practices,
in radical service to the most vulnerable,
in refusal to the empire, in love of His creation
the church reimagines the world in the image of the invisible God
In the face of a disappointed world of betrayal
a world in which all other promises of stability have failed us
a world in which we are anchorless and adrift,
Christ is the foundation, the origin, the way the truth and the life
Everything, all things whatever you can imagine, visible and invisible
mountains and atoms, outer space, urban space, and cyberspace
every inch of creation, every dimension of our lives,
All things are reconciled in Him
And it all happens on a cross, it all happens at a state execution
Where the governor did not commute the sentence,
It all happens at the hands of the empire that has captivated our imaginations
it all happens through flesh and blood
it all happens in embraced pain for the sake of others
it all happens on a cross, arms outstretched in embrace
and this is the image of the invisible God
this is the body of Christ